$3.55 here in Mn with rumors of it going to $4 by the end of the Month. I have a Nephew that bought a country home and drives 80 miles one way to work. I tried warning them, but you know, there is no such thing as peak oil. BAU.....

vision-master wrote:$3.55 here in Mn with rumors of it going to $4 by the end of the Month. I have a Nephew that bought a country home and drives 80 miles one way to work. I tried warning them, but you know, there is no such thing as peak oil. BAU.....

Man, I hear you. Trying to talk sense into some people -- who keep going for the BAU.

Tried to talk grown kids (two sons - both professional commercial/residential painters --- plus at home wife of one of them, and their two sons 4 & 2) into moving to near the farm place here in rural Idaho about 3 yrs ago -- getting whatever work they could (didn't have to be "fulfilling" -- just had to make $$), and working on the farm place every moment they could to build it up faster ... so that it could support everyone "in time."

They showed up but didn't "get it" about the need to "make hay while the sun shines" in terms of making bucks while the economy would pay them ... while putting sweat equity into what would sustain them long-term. They just wanted to play farmer -- without the SLIGHTEST clue as to what needed to happen on a farm ... and without ANY thought for the fact that it costs MONEY to support more people. (i.e. -- NEED TO WORK -- wherever, doing whatever, as long as it's legal, in order to support selves until time came that the farm became primary source of support - by necessity).

So they left again.

Now they have all been increasingly living in a world of hurt. I.E. Work is scarce.

The one who is single is living with his 89 year old grandmother, trying (for past 18 months) to establish a business that requires him to drive a lot ... while also working side jobs, painting. (Those are getting scarcer.) He also has a job as a driver delivering medical equipment (hospital beds, etc) for Hospice patients and the like. He was recently told that no one there will be getting raises (they don't make squat to start with), because "The cost of fuel is going up too much too fast."

The one with the wife and two kids (now 7 & 5) recently gave up trying to establish a business along the sames lines as his younger brother (see above - lots of driving required), and has been desperately taking little painting jobs, etc. Has to leave family for weeks at a time to DRIVE 400 miles for painting jobs that come up. Often ends up sleeping in car for 4-5 nights out of 7 ... because it costs him so much to drive to the jobs that he can't afford lodging.

SO -- BAU thinking. Yeah, I'm seeing the pain it's causing in my own family for my own kids and grandkids. And so for me, too.

If a 2X4 up the side of their heads would have convinced them 3 yrs ago that BAU was going away, I would have used it!!!Lumpy

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." Thomas Jefferson

vision-master wrote:$3.55 here in Mn with rumors of it going to $4 by the end of the Month. I have a Nephew that bought a country home and drives 80 miles one way to work. I tried warning them, but you know, there is no such thing as peak oil. BAU.....

Man, I hear you. Trying to talk sense into some people -- who keep going for the BAU.

Tried to talk grown kids (two sons - both professional commercial/residential painters --- plus at home wife of one of them, and their two sons 4 & 2) into moving to near the farm place here in rural Idaho about 3 yrs ago -- getting whatever work they could (didn't have to be "fulfilling" -- just had to make $$), and working on the farm place every moment they could to build it up faster ... so that it could support everyone "in time."

They showed up but didn't "get it" about the need to "make hay while the sun shines" in terms of making bucks while the economy would pay them ... while putting sweat equity into what would sustain them long-term. They just wanted to play farmer -- without the SLIGHTEST clue as to what needed to happen on a farm ... and without ANY thought for the fact that it costs MONEY to support more people. (i.e. -- NEED TO WORK -- wherever, doing whatever, as long as it's legal, in order to support selves until time came that the farm became primary source of support - by necessity).

So they left again.

Now they have all been increasingly living in a world of hurt. I.E. Work is scarce.

The one who is single is living with his 89 year old grandmother, trying (for past 18 months) to establish a business that requires him to drive a lot ... while also working side jobs, painting. (Those are getting scarcer.) He also has a job as a driver delivering medical equipment (hospital beds, etc) for Hospice patients and the like. He was recently told that no one there will be getting raises (they don't make squat to start with), because "The cost of fuel is going up too much too fast."

The one with the wife and two kids (now 7 & 5) recently gave up trying to establish a business along the sames lines as his younger brother (see above - lots of driving required), and has been desperately taking little painting jobs, etc. Has to leave family for weeks at a time to DRIVE 400 miles for painting jobs that come up. Often ends up sleeping in car for 4-5 nights out of 7 ... because it costs him so much to drive to the jobs that he can't afford lodging.

SO -- BAU thinking. Yeah, I'm seeing the pain it's causing in my own family for my own kids and grandkids. And so for me, too.

If a 2X4 up the side of their heads would have convinced them 3 yrs ago that BAU was going away, I would have used it!!!Lumpy

Just talked to another Nephew yesterday, he's single and pennyless right now and has enough food for like two days. His wealthy sister ignores him. I'm bringing over a bunch of my stocked food items to keep him going for another couple of weeks within a couple of hours.

The future is going to look something like this, alternative energy, alternative weapons.

The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.
... Theodore Roosevelt

[quote="vision-masterJust talked to another Nephew yesterday, he's single and pennyless right now and has enough food for like two days. His wealthy sister ignores him. I'm bringing over a bunch of my stocked food items to keep him going for another couple of weeks within a couple of hours. [/quote]

Well, I'm getting kind of off topic on my own thread here ... but this is the kind of thing that starts getting scary.

You know the old story of the grasshopper and the ant. The grasshopper played, and the ant made preps.

When times got lean and cold, the grasshopper wanted in on the ant's stuff.

Well, when one is the ant (you, me, others making preps), but the grasshopper is someone we love ... what is to be done? Seriously. This is a problem now (obvious from your posts in this thread, and my story about my kids.) How much MORE of a problem is it going to become? And what ARE we ants going to do???

Think I'll start a new thread about this.

Worried.Lumpy

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." Thomas Jefferson

misterno wrote:In Turkey, 1 liter of gas is 4.08TL1 USD =1.6TLSo 1 gallon of gas is 4.08X3.875/1.6= $9.88Average wage for a new grad is like 1,000TL after taxes which is $660/month. So working 172 hours a month, it comes to $4.5/hrDo you Americans feel better now? Take the public transportation and you will be fine

Ouch! However, living rural (like we do) means no public transportation. On the other hand, means growing a lot of our own food.Lumpy

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." Thomas Jefferson

misterno wrote:In Turkey, 1 liter of gas is 4.08TL1 USD =1.6TLSo 1 gallon of gas is 4.08X3.875/1.6= $9.88Average wage for a new grad is like 1,000TL after taxes which is $660/month. So working 172 hours a month, it comes to $4.5/hrDo you Americans feel better now? Take the public transportation and you will be fine

Ouch! However, living rural (like we do) means no public transportation. On the other hand, means growing a lot of our own food.Lumpy

Living in the city, like I do, means no public transportation either, with rare exception.

The pitiful systems in place here in So Calif all have been cut from terrible to virtually worthless in the budget cuts. Even the lucky ones who live by the trains can end up late by hours because they have cut personnel and equipment.

Last I saw (Friday night) gas nearby here (Conifer, CO. Just west of Denver) was $3.25 at an independent station or $3.19 (after discount for supermarket club card for the $3.19). With the way it had been going up all last week, seeing the same stations at $3.35 and $3.29 tomorrow wouldn't surprise me in the least.